It had been a full week since the battle between Namikaze Kirito and Urashiki Ōtsutsuki, and in that short span of time, the news had already spread across the entire shinobi world.
Although almost no one knew exactly who had fought that day, the sheer scale of the destruction had left countless people terrified.
No one wanted a battle like that breaking out anywhere near them.
As a result, the shinobi world's fear of Namikaze Kirito had risen to an unprecedented level.
Some had even begun to think that if Konoha ever came knocking, there would be no point resisting at all. They might as well surrender on the spot.
After all, how were ordinary people supposed to fight someone who wielded lightning like that?
That was no different from throwing their lives away.
At the same time, inside the Raikage's office in Kumogakure—
A had already received the latest intelligence regarding Namikaze Kirito.
Originally, after Kumogakure and Iwagakure had formed an alliance, both villages had expected to gain the upper hand through battle. Instead, all of their Jinchūriki had vanished, and only afterward did they fully learn just how terrifying Namikaze Kirito's current strength had become.
To make matters worse, more and more people among the upper ranks of the village were already beginning to discuss negotiating peace.
"These fools don't understand anything. Everyone knows what that brat Namikaze Kirito is after, and they still want to talk about peace?" A said coldly. "Even if we wanted peace, do you really think he'd agree?"
His tone was absolute.
As a man who believed above all in strength, A had never once thought Namikaze Kirito was the kind of person who truly sought peace. Anyone with eyes could tell that from everything he had done so far.
Peace in the shinobi world?
In the end, that was just a prettier way of saying he wanted to rule the entire shinobi world.
Sitting across from A, Ōnoki's already aged face seemed even more worn than before.
The reason was simple.
He had never expected Deidara—the boy he had once practically treated like his own grandson—to deceive him not once, but twice.
Because of Deidara's half-truths and outright lies, both villages had been dragged into a deadlock.
In the end, the Jinchūriki had not fallen into Namikaze Kirito's hands at all.
They had been taken by the Akatsuki.
Ōnoki had spent his entire life scheming against others, yet in the end, he had been played by one of his own juniors. The loss of two Jinchūriki had shaken his authority as Tsuchikage to its core.
There were already people in the village openly calling for surrender.
If Ōnoki had not crushed those voices by force, there would likely already have been a wave of defections from Iwagakure.
Hearing A's words, Ōnoki spoke slowly.
"The Raikage is right. Konoha will never accept the surrender of our two villages. Since that is the case, it is better to strike first than sit here waiting for death."
"Oh?" A let out a sharp laugh, his eyes carrying obvious mockery. "So you still have the nerve to fight, Ōnoki? Looks like I underestimated you."
The two villages had once been enemies to begin with.
Joining forces against Konoha did not mean the hatred between them had disappeared.
Faced with A's sarcasm, Ōnoki remained expressionless.
He did not care.
Right now, he only wanted to crush Konoha and then turn around immediately to track down the Akatsuki and rescue their Jinchūriki.
According to the information Deidara had provided, Akatsuki's goal in capturing the Jinchūriki was to extract the tailed beasts.
And once a Jinchūriki lost their tailed beast, death was almost certain.
That meant time was running out.
If Konoha had not been pressing so aggressively, Ōnoki would already have mobilized every available force to tear the shinobi world apart in search of Akatsuki.
Seeing that Ōnoki had no interest in responding to his provocation, A quickly lost interest as well.
Since Killer B had been taken, he had been carrying a constant, restless fury in his chest.
Mocking Ōnoki had only been a way to vent some of that frustration.
At that moment, Mabui stepped into the room and bowed respectfully toward A.
"Lord Raikage, the Chakra Cannon has been fully prepared. It can be activated at any time."
The moment those words were spoken, the entire room fell silent.
The Chakra Cannon.
Once that weapon entered the discussion, even the air itself seemed to grow heavier.
Most people had never seen it with their own eyes, but everyone knew the rumors recorded within the hidden histories of the shinobi world.
The Chakra Cannon was a forbidden weapon.
A true strategic monstrosity.
A weapon said to possess enough power to blast apart the moon.
Compared to that, even the tailed beasts seemed less terrifying.
Such a thing should never have appeared on a battlefield in the first place.
Because once one side crossed that line and deployed a weapon like that, no one could predict how far the enemy would go in retaliation.
After all, if someone erased your village from the map with a single shot, who was still going to care about rules or restraint?
Even when A first decided to use the Chakra Cannon, there had been opposition within Kumogakure.
Many of the higher-ups believed that a weapon like that should never be turned against human beings.
Originally, A had thought the same.
Unless it became absolutely unavoidable, the Chakra Cannon was not something that should ever be used lightly.
But Killer B's disappearance, combined with the terrifying news of Namikaze Kirito's combat power, had changed everything.
Now, he had ignored all objections and chosen to activate it anyway.
For the past week, Kumogakure had been calibrating the Chakra Cannon's power and accuracy in secret.
Now that Mabui had reported its completion, it meant all preparations were finally finished.
There was no reason to wait any longer.
Hearing that the Chakra Cannon was ready, even the heaviness in Ōnoki's heart eased slightly.
Only slightly.
Because once Konoha had been dealt with, who could say Kumogakure would not set a new precedent?
What if there was a second time?
A third?
What if one day the barrel of that same Chakra Cannon was turned toward Iwagakure?
Even his Dust Release could only restrict such a weapon to a limited degree.
And only to a limited degree.
After all, that was power capable of destroying the moon.
Before that kind of force, human beings were painfully insignificant.
"Move the Chakra Cannon in secret to Amegakure," A ordered decisively. "That place is already a wasteland. And with the forests near Konoha gone, it's the ideal location to fire from."
He made the decision without hesitation.
Killer B's fate was still unknown, and there was no more time to waste.
If Namikaze Kirito suddenly chose to descend upon either village before they acted, then they might never even get the chance to use the Chakra Cannon.
At that point, both villages would become nothing more than defeated nations waiting to be crushed.
No matter what happened, Kumogakure could not be allowed to fall into someone else's hands.
Mabui gave a quiet nod.
Normally, with her calm and rational nature, she would never have supported A's decision to deploy the Chakra Cannon.
But seeing Samui's increasingly distraught state day after day had shaken even her.
And more importantly, A was right.
Things had already reached a critical point.
No one knew whether Namikaze Kirito might appear in their village the very next day and suppress them by force.
Rather than gamble on the enemy's restraint, it was better to seize the initiative with their own hands.
Soon after, the meeting ended, and the group made its way toward the location where the Chakra Cannon was being prepared.
Elsewhere, deep within a mountain range in the Land of Earth—
The members of Akatsuki were seated around the fingers of the Demonic Statue of the Outer Path.
No one was idle.
Each of them was channeling their chakra into the statue, slowly guiding the tailed beasts' power into its massive body.
The process was painfully slow.
Nearby, Uchiha Obito stood silently with two masses of chakra floating in his hands, his gaze fixed intently on the Demonic Statue.
Those two chakra masses were the ones that had once been in Urashiki Ōtsutsuki's possession.
Obito had seized them by taking advantage of Kamui's unique properties.
The reason he had exposed himself and gone out of his way to snatch those two portions of chakra was simple.
Everything was for the sake of the Demonic Statue.
With Namikaze Kirito's current strength, there was no way Akatsuki could take those two Jinchūriki from Konoha by force.
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